Pumps industry says its Euro proposal could boost electricity savings 600%

Pumps industry says its Euro proposal could boost potential electricity savings 600%

European pumps manufacturers are pressing the EU to adopt their proposals for a new directive they say will significantly lower energy consumption, with massive environmental benefits.

Europump, which represents 17 national associations including 14 EU member states plus Turkey, Russian and Switzerland, says its extended product approach (EPA), ensures far greater impact than current legislation.

The EU’s Eco-Design Directive aims to optimise design for energy-intensive products, notably pumps.

However, KSB’s Thomas Heng, who sits on several Europump working groups, said the current scope of the legislation needed widening.

“Consideration is often only given to the acquisition/installation costs and not the operation costs over the life span of the entire pump system,” he stated.

Europump’s study found that if the region’s water pumps were looked at in isolation with a view to trimming their electrical consumption, savings of 5 TWh could be achieved.

But if a ‘whole system’ approach is taken, then savings of 35 TWH – 600% greater –can be realised from a current annual consumption of 137 TWH.

Explained a Europump spokesman:

“This saving can be achieved by adjusting the pumping capacity precisely to the pumping requirement. This works with the help of a controller, for example a frequency converter. This device makes it possible to reduce the speed of the motor driving the pump and thus also the power of the pump.

“Normally, the motor of a pump always runs at a fixed speed, the pump always runs at full throttle, so to speak. Even where the need for pumping power varies.

We will miss the opportunity to make a major contribution to sustainability and climate protection. We have everything we need. We just need the legislator making the right decisions

Frank Ennenbach, chairman, Standards Commission, Europump

Heng said that pump users have been reluctant to adopt energy efficient frequency converters because the return on investment can take between two and four years.

“This problem is compounded by the system planners’ desire to provide generous performance reserves and with it a tendency to over-spec. Pumps are specified for the highest possible operating point, even if this is never achieved in practice.

“I the pump is far too big for the application and is driven at full throttle, the waste of energy can be huge.

Europe has the third largest electricity consumption in the world after China and the USA, with around 3,300 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. More than 300 TWh of this is accounted for by electric pumps – equivalent to the generated output of 30 large coal-fired power plants.

Frank Ennenbach, chairman of the Standards Commission at Europump and Manager at Sulzer, said some critics claimed the extended product approach would make it more difficult for regulators to review performance. But he said the consequences of failing to adopt the approach were far more serious.

“We will then miss the opportunity to make a major contribution to sustainability and climate protection. We have everything we need. We just need the legislator making the right decisions.”